Date of Graduation

12-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Cell & Molecular Biology (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Cell & Molecular Biology

Advisor/Mentor

Ricke, Steven C.

Committee Member

Feye, Kristina M.

Second Committee Member

Sun, Xiaolun

Third Committee Member

Gibson, Kristen E.

Keywords

Antimicrobial part dips; Foodborne pathogens; Food safety; Poultry processing

Abstract

With poultry being the most consumed meat in the United States, poultry processors must provide consumers with safe, wholesome products. As a consequence, poultry processors are faced with the challenge of reducing the presence of foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter jejuni among raw poultry products. Though multi-hurdle approaches using antimicrobials are placed throughout processing to reduce these pathogens, Salmonella and C. jejuni still persist among raw poultry. Thus, it was the objective of the current dissertation to investigate various antimicrobials, organic and inorganic acids, as short duration dips and sprays as means to reduce common pathogens (Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni, and Escherichia coli) among raw chicken carcasses and parts. It was hypothesized that the use of organic and inorganic acids in poultry part dips would result in a decrease pathogen load and a positive shift in the microbiota of rinsates, thus improving the safety of raw products. Therefore, three projects were devised and executed to investigate the use of inorganic and organic acids as short duration part dips and sprays. The objective of the first study was to evaluate the efficacy of TetraClean Systems aqueous ozone, O3, in combination with PAA as an antimicrobial spray on whole chicken carcasses (Chapter 2). The second project aimed at determining the efficacy of varying concentrations of sodium bisulfate salt, SBS, alone or in combination with peracetic acid, PAA, in 15 s whole part dips (Chapter 3). The objective of the third study was to determine the influence of two antimicrobials, PAA and acidified sodium chlorite (ASC), on the microbiota of chicken thighs inoculated with Salmonella and Campylobacter (Chapter 4). Overall, the data presented in the current dissertation demonstrated the potential use of novel antimicrobials as short duration dips and sprays at mitigating foodborne pathogens present on raw poultry.

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